The sociology of the family examines the family as an institution and a unit of socialization. This unit of socialization is identified through various sociological perspectives; particularly with regards to the relationship between the nuclear family and industrial capitalism, and the different gender roles and concepts of childhood which arose with it.

Interaction between family members within the family. How they rely on one another. How they work together/rely on the work of someone in the family.

Examples of specific issues looked at include:

Changing roles of family members. Each member is restricted by the sex roles of the traditional family. These roles such as the father as the worker and the mother as the homemaker are declining. The mother is becoming the supplementary provider and she retains the responsibilities of child rearing. Therefore the females’ role in the labour force is “compatible with the demands of the traditional family”.[1] Sociology studies the adaptation of the males role to caregiver as well as provider. The gender roles are increasingly interwoven.

Increase in sole occupancy dwellings and smaller family sizes

Average age of marriage being older

Average number of children decreasing and first birth at later age

The historical pattern of fertility. From baby boom to baby bust (instability)

Methodology

Research methods in the sociology of the family can be broken down to three major approaches, each with its own strengths and weaknesses; which need be employed in a study, then, relies largely on the subject of, and questions posed by, the research.

One approach is survey research of contemporary families. This holds the benefit of leaving statistical data and large and hopefully random samples from which a researcher can interpolate the general traits of a society. However, survey respondents tend to answer as would feel regular or ideal rather than as things might actually be. It also gives a very one-sided explanation view of a larger group, which does not sufficiently allow for contention. The information is often out dated, not representing the true statistics of the world that we live in today. The information can also be deceiving and not represent the true points that the survey's and graphs are representing. For example, if the incomes of same sex marriages are measured, it would appear as the heterosexual couples make more than the same sex couples by a long shot. This is not true and the graphs are deceiving because the lesbian income weighs down the income of gay men. It is obvious that in most situations, gay men make more than a heterosexual family but the graph does not display this.

Another method is ethnographic research of families. Where surveys allow for broad but shallow analyses, observation allows sociologists to obtain rich information on a source of a much more limited size. It allows the research an "insider" perspective, and through this closer look, a better idea of the actual social framework of families. Where surveys are strong, however, ethnographic research is weak. By reducing the size of a sample size, it may be no longer evident as to how representative the family being researched on is, to families at large within a society, and then also does not allow much room in linking the specific traits of the families being observed to a society more generally.

Finally, a researcher can use documented studies of families from the past as a source of information. These sources may include very personal items (such as diaries), legal records (census data, wills, court records), and matters of public record (such as sermons).

Sociology of interracial intimacy

The construction of race in Western society and, to a degree, globally, has led to a distinct view of interracial intimacy. Although inter-racial relationships and marriages have become far more popular and socially acceptable in the United States and Western Europe since the Civil Rights era, these unions continue to be viewed with less than total acceptance by significant portions of the population. More historically, 'American Families' by Stephanie Coontz treats the difficulties these couples went through during the time before Loving v. Virginia, when inter-racial marriage bans were declared unconstitutional. These bans functioned to enforce the one-drop rule and re-enforce identity and privilege. Internationally, the far right continues to promote ideas of racial purity by working against the normalization of inter-racial couples and families.

Sociology of marriage

In the Judeo-Christianbelief system marriage is modeled after Adam and Eve's lifetime commitment between man and woman. The married couple produces children, constituting the nuclear family. Some sociologists now dispute the degree to which this idealized arrangement has and does reflect the true structure of families in American society. In her 1995 article The American Family and the Nostalgia Trap, sociologist Stephanie Coontz first posited that the American family has always been defined first and foremost by its economic needs. For instance, in colonial times families often relied on slaves or indentured servants to support themselves economically. The modern “breadwinner-homemaker model,” argues Coontz, then has little historical basis. Only in the 1950s did the myth of the happy, nuclear family as the correct family structuration arise.[3]

Yet Coontz argues in Marriage, A History that during the 20th century, marriages have become increasingly unstable in the United States as individuals have begun to seek unions for the ideals of love and affection rather than social or economic expediency.[4] This transition has blurred the division of labor within the breadwinner-homemaker model, such that maintenance of the household and childcare, called the “second shift,” are now topics for debate between marital partners. Sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild argues in The Second Shift that despite changes in perceptions of the purpose of marriage and the economic foundations for marriage, women continue to do the bulk of care work to the detriment of the American family. Hochschild illustrates the ways in which an unequal division of the second shift undermines family welfare by reducing marital equality and spousal satisfaction.[5]

Divorce

Divorce Rates in Canada and the United States fluctuated in a similar pattern, though the United States still has the highest divorce rate in the world (50% higher than Canada’s)[6].Many of today’s marriages unfortunately end up in divorce, for many different reasons. The following are some of the most common causes:

1. Individualism: In today’s society, families spend more time apart than they do together. Some individuals in a family focus more on personal happiness and earning income to support their family that it consumes the time actual spent with their family.

2. Feelings are no longer mutual: Many people end marriages because they are no longer satisfied by sexual needs or merely because they have lost feelings for one another. This often happens when one partner finds a more exciting relationship and choses to move forward with that new relationship. In some cases, a partner may even commit adultery which also may result in a divorce as a partner discovers their partner being unfaithful to them.

3. Women have become more independent: Now that women have equal rights and have proven over time that they have the potential and ability to support themselves, women find it much easier to leave unhappy marriages. They are also more work focused, thus giving them less time to cope with their relationship.

4. Stress: Stress is a big factor in marriages. Working to support a family, while trying to stabilize finances is a big factor of stress. Also, with both partners working (in most cases), leaves less “family time” which makes raising children difficult. This often happens in the stage where couples are raising young children.

5. Socially acceptable: In today’s generation, divorce is now more socially acceptable. Now, instead of discouraging a divorce in an unsatisfying relationship, it is more widely accepted and sometimes even encouraged. Not only is it now more acceptable, but it is also easier to get a divorce legally than it was in previous years according to the Divorce Act of 1968.

Sociology of motherhood

In many cultures, especially in a traditional western one, a mother is usually the wife in a married couple. Her role in the family is celebrated on Mother's Day. Anna Reeves Jarvis was a woman who originally organized Mother's Work Day's protesting the lack of cleanliness and sanitation in the work place.[7][8] Anna died in 1905 and her daughter created a National Mother's Day to honor her mother.[7] Mothers frequently have a very important role in raising offspring and the title can be given to a non-biological mother that fills this role. This is common in stepmothers (female married to biological father). In most family structures the mother is both a biological parent and a primary caregiver.

In East Asian and Western traditional families, fathers were the heads of the families, which meant that his duties included providing financial support and making critical decisions, some of which must have been obeyed without question by the rest of the family members. "Some Asian American men are brought up under stringent gender role expectations such as a focus on group harmony and filial piety, carrying on their family name and conforming to the expectations of the parents."[9]

As with cultural concepts of family, the specifics of a mother's role vary according to cultural mores. In what some sociologists term the "bourgeois family", which arose out of typical 16th- and 17th-century European households and is often considered the "traditional Western" structure, the father's role has been somewhat limited. In this family model the father acts as the economic support and sometimes disciplinarian of the family, while the mother or other female relative oversees most of the childrearing. This structure is reflected, for example, in societies which legislate "maternity leave" but do not have corresponding "paternity leave."

Some often view mother's duties as raising and looking after their children every minute of everyday. Mothers are often criticized for not contributing to the family income but the lack of money that they contribute is due to the time that is put into raising the children, which allows no time for the mother to go out and work. If the family is really struggling and the mother does have to go out and seek work, she is also criticized. If the mother is out working, many people view her as abandoning her children and not giving them the best life. In this situation, it truly is a lose or lose for the mother.

However, this limited role has increasingly been called into question. Both feminist and masculist authors have decried such predetermined roles as unjust. A nascent father's rights movement seeks to increase the legal standing of fathers in everything from child-custody cases to the institution of paid paternity leave or family leave. However, plans to institute paid paternity leaves for fathers have been criticized for economic reasons.[10] The fear is that it will burden businesses with more red tape and higher costs, neither of which is beneficial in times of economic difficulties.[10]

Families are often influenced by the media portrayal of the way women should run their families. In the book Media and Middle Class Moms by Descartes, women are often influenced by the social norms, and it is often the reason as to why they believe staying home or working is the right thing to do while having a family. See Ideology of Motherhood.

In the United States, 82.5 million women are mothers of all ages, while the national average age of first child births is 25.1 years. In 2008, 10% of births were to teenage girls, and 14% were to women ages 35 and older.[11] In the US, a study found that the average woman spends 5 years working and building a career before having children, and mothers working non-salary jobs began having children at age 27, compared to mothers with salary positions, who became pregnant at age 31.[12] The study shows that the difference in age of child birth is related to education, since the longer a woman has been in school, the older she will be when she enters the workforce.[12] Other factors determining age of first child birth include infertility rates, when women meet their partners, and the age of marriage.

Sociology of fatherhood

According to anthropologist Maurice Godelier, a critical novelty in human society, compared to humans' closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobos), is the parental role assumed by the males, which were unaware of their "father" connection.[13][14]

In many cultures, especially traditional western, a father is usually the husband in a married couple. Many times fathers have a very important role in raising offspring and the title can be given to a non-biological father that fills this role. This is common in stepfathers (males married to biological mothers).
In East Asian and Western traditional families, fathers are the heads of the families, which means that their duties include providing financial support and making critical decisions, some of which must be obeyed without question by the rest of the family members.

As with cultural concepts of family, the specifics of a father's role vary according to cultural folkways. In what some sociologists term the "bourgeois family", which arose out of typical 16th- and 17th-century European households and is considered by some[attribution needed] the "traditional Western" structure, the father's role has been somewhat limited. In this family model the father acts as the economic support and sometimes disciplinarian of the family, while the mother or other female relative oversees most of the childrearing. This structure is enforced, for example, in societies which legislate "maternity leave" but do not have a corresponding "paternity leave."

However, this limited role has increasingly been called into question. Both feminist and masculist authors have decried such predetermined roles as unjust. A nascent father's rights movement seeks to increase the legal standing of fathers in everything from child-custody cases to the institution of paid paternity leave or family leave.

Science of parenting

Described as 'the science of male parenting', the study of 'father craft' emerged principally in Britain and the USA (but also throughout Europe) in the 1920s. "Male adjuncts to Maternity and Infant Welfare Centers – reacted to the maternal dominance in infant welfare and parenting in interwar Britain by arguing that fathers should play a crucial role in the upbringing of children."[15] Were such a study to be conducted into the science of female parenting, it would be called mother craft.

The words "Ma Ma" and "Mom", usually regarded as terms of endearment directed towards a mother figure, are generally one of the first words a child speaks. While 'da da' or 'dad' often precede it, this does not reflect a stronger bond between the father and child than that of the mother and child, it is merely simpler to pronounce than "Mummy" or "Mum" which require greater control over the mouth muscles. Children tend to remember daddy more because, according to research, they are more exciting to the child.[16]

Alternate Family Forms

The number of married couples raising children has decreased over the years. In Canada, married and common law couples with children under the age of 25 represented 44% of all families in 2001[17]. This statistic has lowered since 1991, when married and common law couples raising children under the age of 25 represented 49 percent of all Canadian families[18]. There are various family forms which are becoming increasingly popular in society.

One-Parent Families
In Canada, one parent families have become popular since 1961 when only 8.4 percent of children were being raised by a single parent[19]. In 2001, 15.6 percent of children were being raised by a single parent[20]. The number of single parent families continue to rise, while it is four times more likely that the mother is the parent raising the child.The high percentage of mothers becoming the sole parent is sometimes due to the result of a divorce, unplanned pregnancy or the inability to find a befitting partner.
Children who are raised by a single parent are commonly at a disadvantage due to the characteristics of parenting. A mother and father both make significant contributions to the development of a child, therefore one parents ability to raise a child on their own may be hindered.

Cohabitation
A residence containing an unmarried couple is called cohabitation. This type of family style is becoming increasingly accepted in Canada and has increased from 8 % in 1981 to 16.4 % in 2001[21]. In Sweden and Nordic communities this family form is quite common, with or without the inclusion of children. However in various Catholic regions such as Italy this is uncommon due to the religious aspects (See Catholic marriage).

Gay and Lesbian Couples
Gay and Lesbian couples are categorized as same sex relationships. In 1989 Demark was the first nation allow same sex couples to get married to provide equal rights to all citizens[22]. After this many nations began to allow same sex marriages to occur such as Canada and Spain(2005)[23]. Some states in the United States have changed their laws to allow same sex marrigages but 30 states have yet to amend their laws and allow same sex marriage[24].

Singlehood
This type of family contains a person who is not married or in a common law relationship. They share a relationship with a partner and they lead a single life style.

Sociology of childhood

History

In the last two or three decades the sociology of childhood has gained increasing attention and triggered numerous empirical studies as well as intensive theoretical disputes, starting in the Scandinavian and the English-speaking countries. Up to this time, sociology had approached children and childhood mainly from a socialization perspective, and the emergence of the new childhood sociological paradigm ran parallel to the feminist critique of sociological traditions. Childhood sociologists attacked the “adultocentric” approach and the “separative view” of sociology towards children. Not surprisingly, then, the key works in the sociology of childhood are quite interdisciplinary, linking history, cultural studies, ethnomethodology, and pedagogy.

Recent trends

The current Sociology of childhood is organized around two central discussions:

The child as a social actor: This approach derives from youth sociology as well as ethnography. Focusing on everyday life and the ways children orientate themselves in society, it engages with the cultural performances and the social worlds they construct and take part in. Theory and research methodology approach children as active participants and members of society right from the beginning. Thus they are neither analyzed as outsiders to society nor as merely ‘emergent’ members of society.
Therefore, the sociology of childhood distinguishes itself from the established concepts of socialization research and developmental psychology of the last decades.

The generational order: The second approach centers on socio-structural and socio-theoretical questions concerning social equality and social order in a society, which categorizes their members by age and segregates them in many respects (rights, deeds, economical participation, ascribed needs etc.). These issues can be summarized under the overall concept of the generational order. Thus the categorization of societal members by age is far from being an innocent representation of natural distinctions, but rather a social construction of such a “natural truth”. It is, therefore, a relevant component of social order and deeply connected to other dimensions of social inequality.
Social and economic changes and socio-political interventions thus become central topics in childhood sociology. The analysis of these issues has increased awareness of the generational inequality of societies.

Current tasks

Questions about socialization practices and institutions remain central in childhood research. But, they are being dealt with in a new, more sociological way. To analyze socialization processes means, therefore, to reconstruct the historically and culturally varying conceptions, processes and institutions of disciplining and civilization of the offspring. In addition, the strategies of habitus formation and the practices of status (re-)production are considered. The sociology of social inequality and the sociology of the family and private life are, therefore, important fields for childhood sociologists. Children's own action, their resistance, cooperation, and collective action among peers has to be taken into account. Meanwhile widespread anthropological assumptions concerning a universal human nature, based on a view of individual and society as opposed to each other, should be omitted from the conceptual repertoire of sociological childhood research. They are the legacy of the older socialization approach and they legitimate some forms of childhood and education practices as indispensable and even as a “natural” requirement of society, while devaluing others. In this way they generally legitimate western middle class childhood and mask inequality and the interests of social order.

Socialization

The family is considered to be the agency of primary socialisation and the first focal socialisation agency. The values which are learnt during childhood are considered to be the most important in the development of a child which if they are not present may lead a child to become feral.

Statistics on American families

Single parents account for 27 percent of family households with children under 18.

One in two children will live in a single-parent family at some point in childhood.

The number of single mothers increased from three million to 10 million between 1970 and 2000.

Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. 50% of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce

The 2000 US Census found that 2.4 million grandparents are the primary caregivers for the children in their families.

More than 100,000 children are adopted each year.

There are more than 4.5 million married and unmarried couples in the United States who are mixed racially or ethnically.

Estimates show that approximately 2 million American children under the age of 18 are being raised by their lesbian and gay parents. The statistics show that there has been an increase in childrearing from 12% of couples in 1990 to nearly 19% of couples in 2006.

One-third of lesbian households and one-fifth of gay male households have children.

During the past decade, the number of same-sex households “grew significantly” in 10 states for which figures have been released: more than 700 percent in Delaware and Nevada; more than 400 percent in Vermont, Indiana, Louisiana and Nebraska; and more than 200 percent in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts and Montana.

In 1942, the American Psychiatric Association declared that Homosexuality was a disease.

As many as 7.2 million Americans under age 20 are lesbian or gay.

In January 1980 there were 5 openly gay or lesbian elected officials in the United States of America. The number has increased by 10 since 1980 - 2011

In a 1992 study, 55.5% of gay men and 71.2% of lesbians were in steady relationship.

46.6% of the unmarried population aged 18 and older are male and 53.4% are female - U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), 2008

In 2005, unmarried households became the majority of all U.S. households. - U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey: 2005.

23.0% of the unmarried population aged 18 and older are people of color and 77.0% are white.- U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), 2007.

49.9% of the married population are women, compared to 56.4% of unmarried population. - U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey: 2005.

More than two-thirds of women have family income at 200% of the federal poverty level or more.In this income group, unmarried women are more likely to be uninsured than married women. - CDC, 2008.

Forty percent of children growing up in America today are being raised without their fathers. (Wade, Horn and Busy, Fathers, Marriage and Welfare Reform Hudson Institute Executive Briefing, 1997)

Studies in the early 1980s showed that children in repeat divorces earned lower grades and their peers rated them as less pleasant to be around.

Children of divorce are at a greater risk to experience injury, asthma, headaches and speech defects than children whose parents have remained married.

(Dawson, Family Structure and Children’s Health and Well Being National Health Interview Survey on Child Health, Journal of Marriage and the Family)

794,000 children were victims of maltreatment. The rate of victimization was 10.6 per 1,000 children in the population.(U.S. Dept HHS, Admin, Children, Youth and Families, "Child Maltreatment, 2007," Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2009)

As of 2003, 43.7% of custodial mothers and 56.2% of custodial fathers were either separated or divorced. And in 2002, 7.8 million Americans paid about $40 billion in child and/or spousal support (84% of the payers were male). (U.S. Census Bureau)

8.1% of coupled households consist of unmarried heterosexual partners, according to The State of Our Unions 2005, a report issued by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University. The same study said that only 63% of American children grow up with both biological (National Center for Heath Statistics

The marriage rate in 2005 (per 1,000) was 7.5, down from 7.8 the previous year. (U.S. Census Bureau)

The divorce rate in 2005 (per 1,000 people) was 3.6 -- the lowest rate since 1970, and down from 4.2 in 2000 and from 4.7 in 1990. (The peak was at 5.3 in 1981, according to the Associated Press.)